Tension in bunkering supply chains has reached a critical point at Europe’s main logistics hubs, according to the daily bunkering bulletin sent on Thursday by Las Palmas-based shipping agent Intercop to its clients in the United Kingdom. The operational bottleneck affecting the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub, together with extended delivery times in the Strait of Gibraltar and Las Palmas, is opening a strategic window for operations in the Mid-Atlantic. Against this backdrop of widespread scarcity, Tenerife’s port basin and West African routes are emerging as key options for shipowners seeking to avoid severe delays and exorbitant costs when refueling their fleets.
The global mismatch between immediate supply and commercial demand has turned time spent at anchor into the decisive financial indicator for shipping companies. In this environment of tight margins, the Port of Tenerife has a direct opportunity to consolidate its role as a secure logistics hub in the broader region. In contrast to competitors hampered by bureaucracy, barge congestion and supply bottlenecks, the agility of berth management and the availability of bunker fuel in Tenerife’s port basin are becoming the most sought-after resources for the international fleet transiting the West African corridor.
Europe’s marine fuel market is showing clear signs of saturation. In the ARA region, the availability of prompt product is virtually nonexistent, forcing shipping companies to plan their liftings with up to seven days’ notice. Although independent fuel oil inventories in tanks across northern Europe rose by 17% during the first half of September, imports from the Americas fell to 256,000 barrels per day. This contraction in inbound flows has left the market without the capacity to respond quickly—a paralysis that extends to ports such as Gothenburg and Skaw, where waiting times have climbed to as much as two weeks.
The situation in the Mediterranean and the peripheral Atlantic offers no relief to charterers. Ports in the Strait are operating at the limits of their capacity, with accumulated delays of up to 16 hours for Gibraltar’s bunker barges and persistent delays in Algeciras and Ceuta. The situation in the Canary Islands reflects the same logistical strain, as the Port of Las Palmas requires lead times of between 10 and 12 days to guarantee deliveries without imposing excessive surcharges. This congestion in the eastern province is directing commercial attention toward the operational capacity of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, positioning its quays as the natural alternative for attracting diverted traffic seeking to avoid delays in the Strait and in the Gran Canaria market.
On the Atlantic route southward, the West African corridor is facing its own stock challenges, creating a highly demanding market in which advance planning determines the viability of routes. From the Gulf of Guinea to the southern tip of Africa, local suppliers are imposing severe restrictions. In Lomé, Togo, prompt VLSFO and LSMGO supply requires a minimum of seven days’ notice. The same pressures are being recorded in Luanda, Angola, where buyers must schedule their liftings up to 10 days in advance, while in Walvis Bay, Namibia, and Durban, South Africa, lead times are set at one week for any type of distillate.
This supply shortage spanning northern Europe and African ports is putting further pressure on the maritime trade routes around the continent. At the far end of the Indian Ocean, strategic locations such as Port Louis in Mauritius are suffering bottlenecks that delay bunkering operations by up to 14 days, while the Mozambican ports of Maputo and Nacala are keeping their VLSFO reserves at minimum levels. The lack of readily available physical product at these ports further reinforces the central role of Atlantic ports with priority storage capacity.
The article Bunkering: Tenerife and the West African corridor gain a competitive edge as supply collapses was first published on canarymaritime.com.
